Title: Sustainable social development through innovations: understanding Indian cases

Authors: Anita Sharma

Addresses: Department of Management Studies, Banasthali University, C-62, Sarojini Marg, C-Scheme, Jaipur 302001, Rajasthan, India

Abstract: |Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable|. This paper demonstrates the entrepreneurial efforts undertaken to transform the deprived society of the world (Prahalad|s bottom of the pyramid) through innovations which is offering a value proposition and ultimately the sustainability to these innovations in the future. Instead of striving to be right at a high cost, it will be appropriate to be flexible and plural at a lower cost. The purpose of the paper is to identify the nexus between social, environmental and economic sustainability. It also tries to identify the role of social entrepreneurs in making development sustainable. At the end, three Indian cases: SELCO, SAATH and Mann Deshi Mahila focus on the innovations (sustainable solutions) brought by social entrepreneurs.

Keywords: BOP; bottom of the pyramid; innovation; social entrepreneurs; sustainable development; social sustainability; poor people; poverty; deprivation; value propositions; costs; flexibility; pluralist; plural; environmental sustainability; economic sustainability; economy; India; Solar Electric Light Company; SELCO; social ventures; Bangalore; electricity generation; power; SAATH; slums; neighbourhoods; MDM; Mann Deshi Mahila; rural cooperatives; banks; banking; female entrepreneurs; women; gender; globalisation; global entrepreneurship.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBG.2010.034018

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2010 Vol.5 No.1, pp.17 - 30

Published online: 06 Jul 2010 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article